The deskless workforce plays a vital role in organizations. They are the backbone of many organizations, performing essential duties and services. Unlike desk-based workers, deskless workers do not have access to the same tools, resources, and technology that desk-based workers have.
This can lead to feeling powerless, excluded, and undervalued in the workplace. Organizations must take steps to empower this workforce. To do so, organizations need to understand the needs of the deskless worker and create a plan to meet those needs.
The plan must include better access to technology, training, education, and support services. By creating a plan tailored to deskless workers, organizations can ensure their employees feel valued and empowered in the workplace.
This blog post will guide how organizations can empower their deskless workforce and ensure they have the resources and support they need to succeed.
Provide Access to Technology
The deskless workforce is an integral part of many businesses, and providing access to technology can help empower this workforce.
Technology can help to increase productivity, reduce errors, and enable more efficient communication between deskless workers and their colleagues. It can also enable deskless workers to access critical information in real time.
Technology can also improve safety and security by allowing workers to quickly and easily share their location and contact information with their colleagues.
By providing technology access, businesses can ensure that their deskless workers have the tools to do their jobs effectively and efficiently.
Encourage Growth and Learning
The deskless workforce presents a unique challenge regarding employee growth and learning. To ensure these employees stay engaged and are empowered to reach their full potential, companies need to focus on fostering an environment of continuous learning.
Investing in effective training and development resources is essential. This can include creating job shadowing opportunities, providing on-the-job training, and offering online courses.
Additionally, empowering deskless employees to take the initiative and develop their solutions to challenges is key to encouraging growth and learning. By providing access to the necessary tools, resources, and support, companies can cultivate an environment where deskless employees can thrive. Doing so will lead to a more engaged, motivated, and productive workforce.
Provide resources to understand their roles better
Deskless employees are essential to the success of many businesses, yet they often lack the resources to understand their roles and how to empower themselves best.
To bridge this gap, employers should provide various resources to help deskless workers better understand their role. This could include educational materials such as online seminars, webinars, and podcasts designed to give deskless staff the knowledge and skills needed to succeed.
Employers should also foster open communication and feedback between deskless employees and their managers. By providing these resources and creating an organizational culture of support and mentorship, deskless workers will be empowered and better able to reach their full potential.
Give them access to the decision-making process
Giving the deskless workforce access to the decision-making process is an important step in empowering them. Allowing them to provide input and influence the decisions that impact their work and job satisfaction will make the deskless workforce feel valued and respected.
This can help build trust and loyalty and improve morale and engagement. It also allows them to use their experience and expertise to make decisions that benefit the organization.
Giving the deskless workforce a voice in decision-making will help ensure that their decisions align with their goals and interests and that their ideas are heard and considered.
Ensuring the organization’s deskless workforce is empowered and valued is important.
Encourage collaboration between desk-based and deskless workers
In order to realize the full potential of an organization, it is essential to encourage collaboration between desk-based and deskless workers. Deskless workers can bring a unique perspective to the team, which can be invaluable in problem-solving and innovation.
On the other hand, desk-based employees often have access to resources that deskless workers may not. Organizations can leverage both expertise sets to produce optimal outcomes by facilitating group collaboration.
We must also strive to create an environment of trust and mutual respect, which will promote constructive collaboration and help bridge perceived divides.
This will result in a more unified organization and an enhanced ability to tackle challenges and capitalize on opportunities.
Challenges Organizations Face with Deskless Workforce
Lack of reliable communication methods
Organizations that employ a deskless workforce face a unique set of challenges when it comes to communication. Without a desk, employees cannot easily access traditional communication methods like email or telephone.
Furthermore, the lack of a centralized communication platform creates a challenge for the organization, as it is difficult to ensure all employees are receiving the same messages and being received in a timely manner.
Without reliable communication methods, organizations may struggle to effectively manage their deskless workforce and ensure that all employees are up-to-date with key information.
Additionally, a lack of reliable communication methods can negatively impact employee engagement, as employees may feel disconnected from their team or organization without an efficient way to stay in touch.
Organizations must strive to develop a reliable communication platform to ensure their deskless workforce remains connected and informed.
Difficulty in managing deskless employees
Organizations face several challenges when managing deskless employees. A lack of visibility into the performance and activities of deskless employees can lead to difficulty tracking progress, evaluating performance, and providing feedback.
Additionally, deskless employees often work in physically demanding and isolated environments, decreasing morale and a lack of accountability.
Companies must develop strategies to ensure that deskless employees are adequately supported, engaged, and monitored. This could include providing tools to facilitate communication and data collection, implementing effective feedback loops, and providing training and skills development opportunities.
Ultimately, organizations must invest in their deskless workforce to recognize their needs and contributions properly.
Challenges in providing training
Organizations that employ a deskless workforce face unique challenges in terms of training and development. Without desks and computers, deskless workers cannot access online learning materials.
Furthermore, deskless workers often work in remote locations, making it difficult to bring them together for in-person group training or to send trainers to them. Additionally, deskless workers often have inflexible schedules, meaning they cannot attend training sessions at certain times.
To address these issues, organizations must develop creative solutions such as providing mobile learning materials, creating flexible training schedules, and leveraging technology to bring remote workers together virtually.
Additionally, organizations must ensure that deskless workers are given the appropriate time and resources to complete the training, as deskless workers often have more responsibilities than those with desks.
With the right strategies and support, deskless workers can receive the training and development they need to perform.
Making sure deskless workers have the right tools and equipment
Organizations face various challenges with a deskless workforce, including ensuring that deskless workers have the right tools and equipment. Organizations must ensure that deskless workers have the necessary materials to do their jobs effectively and efficiently.
This could include access to the right technology, such as mobile devices for field workers or specialized tools for those in industrial settings. Organizations must also ensure that deskless workers have proper training and support to safely and effectively use the tools and equipment.
This means that organizations must have the right processes to ensure that deskless workers have access to the right tools and materials and the knowledge and skills required to use them. By doing this, organizations can ensure their deskless workforce is productive and efficient.
Ensuring deskless workers have secure access to data and resources
Ensuring deskless workers have secure access to data and resources is one of the most significant challenges organizations face when managing a deskless workforce.
Companies must ensure that workers are only granted access to information and resources relevant to their role and that their access is limited to the necessary level. Solutions such as identity and access management (IAM) tools and mobile device management (MDM) systems can help organizations control and monitor access to information and resources.
Additionally, organizations must ensure that any devices used by deskless workers are encrypted and have the necessary security protocols in place to guard against malicious attacks.
Finally, organizations must establish, communicate and enforce clear policies and procedures regarding data security and user access. Organizations can ensure that deskless workers have secure access to data and resources while meeting all compliance requirements through these measures.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, empowering the deskless workforce is critical to the success of any business. By providing these employees with the tools and resources they need to do their jobs effectively, businesses can improve productivity, reduce turnover rates, and ultimately drive growth.
Whether it’s investing in mobile technology, providing training and development opportunities, or creating a more inclusive workplace culture, there are a variety of strategies that can help organizations empower their deskless workforce. By taking these steps, businesses can ensure that every employee feels valued and supported, and that they have the tools and resources they need to thrive in their roles.
